Classic Rock 93.9

Former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle has assembled an all-star lineup of artists to join him on his brand new album, Anthems – Honoring The Music Of Lynyrd Skynyrd, dropping February 2, 2024.

The 13-track album features performances of such Skynyrd classics as “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “Simple Man,” “Free Bird” and more, with guest appearances by Dolly Parton, Sammy Hagar and Warren Haynes, along with country stars Ronnie Dunn, Chris Janson, Billy Ray Cyrus and others.

“This project has been a year in the making, but when the fans hear it they will understand why it took so long,” says Len Snow, president of Get Joe Records, which is releasing the album. “Artimus is legendary within the Southern Rock space. The music that Lynyrd Skynyrd made will always live as a part of rock history. This album honors that music and gives Artimus a way to honor his former bandmates.”

Pyle is set to drop the first single from the record on October 20, which is the 46th anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and four others, and injured Pyle, guitarist Gary Rossington and other members of the band.

Anthems – Honoring The Music Of Lynyrd Skynyrd is available for preorder now. Here is the album’s track list:

“I Know A Little” – Michael Ray
“Sweet Home Alabama” – Ronnie Dunn
“Simple Man” – Sammy Hagar
“Needle And The Spoon” – Lindsey Ell
“The Ballad Of Curtis Loew” – Chris Janson
“Workin’ For MCA” – Lee Brice
“That Smell” – Jerrod Niemann
“Gimme Three Steps” – Marty Raybon
“Call Me The Breeze” – Billy Ray Cyrus
“Saturday Night Special” – Warren Haynes
“The Hunt” – Artimus Pyle Band
“What’s Your Name” – LOCASH
“Freebird “- Dolly Parton

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On This Day, September 28, 1968…

The Beatles’ non-album single “Hey Jude” began a nine-week run at #1 on the Billboard Hot 10. It was the longest run at #1 for any Beatles single.

With a run time of seven minutes and 11 seconds, “Hey Jude” also set a new record for the longest song to top the chart.

Paul McCartney famously wrote “Hey Jude” for John Lennon’s son Julian, during John’s separation from his first wife, Cynthia.

The song, which was the first release on the band’s new Apple Records label, also topped the chart in several other countries, including the U.K., Australia and Canada.

It was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001.

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The late Tina Turner’s legendary solo career is being celebrated with a new box set.

Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, dropping November 24, will feature 55 Turner songs, including such classics as “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” “Private Dancer,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome),” “The Best” and more.

It will also feature Tina’s collaborations with such artists as David Bowie, Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart, along with the 2020 Kygo remix of her signature tune “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” Additionally, the set will include a new version of the 1996 track “Something Beautiful Remains,” which has been reworked by her longtime collaborator Terry Britten and renamed “Something Beautiful.”

The set will mark the first time all of Turner’s singles have been compiled in one collection. It’s being released digitally and as a three-CD or five-LP set. There will also be a 12-track vinyl version, with all versions featuring a foreword by Adams.  

Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll is available for preorder now.

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After years on HBO, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is airing someplace new in 2023.

This year’s event will stream live from Brooklyn, New York, on Disney+ starting Friday, November 3, at 8 p.m. ET. A broadcast special featuring highlights from the show will premiere January 1, 2024, on ABC.

“This historic live stream on Disney+ and special on ABC is a testament to the diverse sounds and enduring power of rock and roll,” says John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “Over the last three decades, the annual live Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction has become music’s highest honor, celebrating the artists who’ve defined generations and changed music forever.”

The 2023 Rock Hall inductees include Rage Against the Machine, Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, George Michael and The Spinners. Additionally, Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin are being inducted with the Musical Excellence award, while DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray will be honored in the Musical Influence category. The late Don Cornelius is the recipient of the industry Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Additionally, the Rock Hall has announced the first wave of performers for the 2023 ceremony, including Crow, Nelson, Elliott and Khan, as well as Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Dave Matthews, H.E.R., Chris Stapleton, St. Vincent and New Edition.

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Paul Rodgers, frontman of such classic bands as Free and Bad Company, recently released the new album Midnight Rose. But what folks might not know is that he recorded it following a major health scare. Four years ago, Rodgers suffered several strokes, and while it was a long recovery, he says making the album helped get him through it. 

“Well, it feels like being born again, actually, it’s absolutely great,” Rodgers tells ABC Audio. “I was sort of incapacitated, I guess. I hate to admit that, but it’s true. And I had to take it step by step. And everything I did was like a progress, was a step in the right direction.”

He says even the recording was part of the healing process, noting that when he started singing and playing guitar again he decided to return to the studio and see what would happen.

What happened was Rodgers was able to finish his first album of original solo material in 25 years. He shares that besides his health, it took this long because he had been busy with his solo tours, as well as touring with Bad Company and Queen.

“I kept all my ideas to myself,” he says of that time. “So when I got to when we were all in lockdown and I’d had this stroke, it was an opportunity to rest, recuperate, etcetera, and reevaluate the music that I had.”

And now that it’s out, Rodgers is hoping fans will find Midnight Rose uplifting.

“I learned from the blues that sometimes if you’re sad, it’s very good to get it out of your system by singing about it, by expressing it,” he says. “And I hope all of the above is the case with this album.” 

Midnight Rose is available now.

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A new book is set to explore feminism and rock ‘n’ roll from the point of view of several well-known female rockers.

She’s a Bad**: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism, from music journalist Katherine Yeske Taylor, features interviews with a host of famous female rockers, including Heart’s Ann Wilson, The Go-Go’s Gina Schock, The Runaways‘ Cherie Currie, Joan Osborne, X‘s Exene Cervenka, Breeders‘ Tanya Donelly, Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray and Joan Osborne.

In the book, the artists open up about the challenges they’ve faced being a woman in the music business, sharing how they overcame their struggles and what improvements they feel still need to be made. As the description notes, “Their stories prove that promoting feminism—either through activism or by living example—is undeniably bad***.”

She’s a Bad**: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism will be released January 16. It is available for preorder now.

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Foo Fighters have shared a statement marking the one-year anniversary of the Los Angeles tribute concert to late drummer Taylor Hawkins.

In a Facebook post published Wednesday, September 27, Dave Grohl and company write, “One year ago today, 63 musicians gathered at the Los Angeles Forum to celebrate the life and legacy of our brother and bandmate, Taylor Hawkins with an emotional evening of loud love and loud music.”

“We thank each and every one of you for honoring him with us, and continue to celebrate his memory every single day,” the post continues. “Miss you, Taylor.”

Hawkins died in March 2022 at age 50. The LA concert was one of two tribute shows held in honor of Hawkins, along with one in London.

Guests across the shows included members of Metallica, AC/DC, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink-182, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Queen and Black Sabbath, not to mention Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus, Joan Jett, Pink and Alanis Morissette. Both ended with Foo Fighters performing with guest drummers, including Hawkins’ son, Shane.

Among those guest drummers was also Josh Freese, who was announced as the new Foo Fighters drummer in May.

Foo Fighters released their first album following Hawkins’ death, But Here We Are, in June.

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Some new information has been uncovered in the search for Paul McCartney’s missing bass. 

The Lost Bass Project launched its global search to find McCartney’s original Höfner bass guitar in early September, and it’s already made some progress. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer purchased the bass in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961, but eight years later it disappeared, reportedly after being put away following the filming of 1969’s Get Back.

According to The Telegraph, over 600 emails came in within 40 hours of the search news hitting the press. One of them provided some previously unknown insight into the last whereabouts of the instrument, which has been described as “the most important bass in history.”

Ian Horne, a sound engineer with McCartney’s band Wings, revealed in an email that the last time the bass was seen was not in 1969, but on October 10, 1972.

At the time, McCartney was rehearsing for a Wings tour and recording his album Red Rose Speedway. Horne says the bass was stolen from a truck that was shuttling instruments from recording studios and rehearsal spaces in London. At the time of the theft, the truck had been parked in the Ladbroke Grove area of Notting Hill, West London.  

“I knew it was Paul’s original Höfner bass that had been stolen, and I knew what it meant to him,” Horne says, noting they went door to door in the neighborhood looking for any information, but with no luck.

He says McCartney “told us not to worry, and we kept our jobs.” He added, “I worked for him for six years after the bass went missing. But I’ve carried the guilt all my life.”

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The National Independent Venue Association has responded to the launch of Live Nation’s On the Road Again program, issuing a statement criticizing the ticketing giant’s campaign as an “initiative to squeeze out independent venues.”

On the Road Again declared that certain Live Nation venues of a certain size, including New York City’s Irving Plaza and The Wiltern in Los Angeles, would not charge merch fees and would provide artists with a $1,500 gas and travel stipend for each show played.

The campaign, per Live Nation’s press release, is expected to last “through the end of the year.”

In its statement, NIVA calls On the Road Again a “temporary measure” that “may appear to help artists in the short run but actually can squeeze out independent venues which provide the lifeblood of many artists on thin margins.”

“It appears to be a calculated attempt to use a publicly-traded conglomerate’s immeasurable resources to divert artists from independent venues and further consolidate control over the live entertainment sector,” NIVA’s statement reads. “Such tactics threaten the vitality of small and medium-sized venues under 3,000 capacity, many of which still struggle to keep their doors open.”

NIVA adds that independent venues “continually facing rising costs, increased deceptive ticketing practices in the resale market, and ongoing challenges following the global pandemic.”

“Our stages are critical to the live entertainment ecosystem and local economies, and they must survive,” NIVA concludes. “The economics of touring must drastically improve for artists and independent venues. There has to be a better way. NIVA will continue to support artists and empower independent venues as we collectively find it.”

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